After All
by Unfortunate Circumstances
Summary: I fail at horror xD. Well, Kurau and I put our heads together and came up with this story. Pre-Season 4, possible scenario involving William before he is sent back to Earth in 'William Returns'. Rated for language/violence. Please review!


A/N: When I listen to EB0 music, TimeSplitters music, and Solaris pt 1 while reading Mother 3 fanfiction, strange things happen...  


* * *

I'd stayed out past my allotted time.  
Running around in Carthage is a great way to lose track of time, and I figured that out quickly. The rooms continue to shift. It was gone by now, but by then it was too late. It was far too late.

_I'd been spotted._

The blue lights were dimming, going darker every second I was out of my prison. The gravity was somehow pushing down harder on me, it was harder to run, harder to stand. There was the sound of distant humming, someone making a dial-tone noise in the back of their throat. Panic is rising into my mouth, my lungs hammering against my ribcage, fists clenched and won't relax. My whole body is on edge.  
Suddenly, everything was about me.

The guards were currently inactive, slacking off from their duties as usual. They should've been looking for their AWOL Commander. There was a small blockade near the elevator, ensuring that I wouldn't try to escape-but the blockade was hurriedly discussing something else. The entire Sector Five was being reconfigured, like a rat cage with its only exit sealed...  
The ultimate rat-race.

I wasn't about to try charging the guards. They could put me down easily and drag my unconscious body back to my rat cage. Even if they were asleep, others would hear. I am not the quietest thing on two legs. Why the other sentinel weren't currently waking the guards confuses me.

I come to a halt and slide into a nearby depression in the wall, blending in with the shadows. I suppose I am somewhat grateful that my costume, my clothing, my very demeanor itself is now black completely. I place my hand on the wall, which nearly decomposes. Someone has been busy lately.  
There was no-one left but the handful of guards and I, and the blockade. If I could, just maybe, get past, I'd have a shot at living. I'd have a chance at escaping this hellhole.

_But it had seen me,_ I remind myself. _Nothing remains alive after it sees you._

I slam my head into the depression, feeling anxiety and helplessness claw at me. Pain shoots through my head and travels to my arms. Now on top of my jittery excitement and weak body, I have a splitting headache. I crumple against the wall.  
You dumbass.  
You dumbass.

There is a sudden electronic scream. One of the guards jolts awake, shaking off sleep like a snowdrift had collected over his head. He takes a look around through invisible eyes before nudging his fellow guard and saying something, I wasn't sure entirely what since I don't speak Creeper. I wish I knew.  
The duo look around nervously, mouths closed, tails flicking anxiously, rocking back-and-forth on their small 'arms'. Creepers. I wonder what they call themselves. I wonder why they stay here. Like hell I care about it. It's because of them that I'm contained here. Everyone I knew, left. Gone. Not coming back.

There's the sound of lasers firing in the distance. Where it saw me.

Yes.  
Not long, now.

I swear under my breath, forcing myself to tear away from the guards, from the small blockade, back to the entrance of the hallway. I couldn't see it, couldn't read its mind, couldn't feel what it felt, but I **know**.

It was looking.  
_It was looking for me._

Harsh screams, electronic whimpers, pleading in another language for help split the cold, dark air, followed by a small explosion. Probably a suicide attack. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. An explosion wouldn't stop this thing, nor would lasers. I look back over at the guards for their reaction. The duo are trembling anxiously before slithering up the wall, angling themselves toward the hallway and waiting. Waiting. They're practically trembling.

I note the scarred hallway walls. Nerve pieces scattered. An explosion of blue shards, chipped impossibly from virtual walls. Scorch marks. Arms, heads, tails scattered about. They're destroying themselves out of fear of it.  
The low dial-tone moan finally ceases, my body tensing as I hear more screams, more cries for help. Then silence. All silence. If I were to run, I don't think the guards would care at all. For a moment, I wonder if they fear betraying their master more than losing their own lives.

It wasn't until the Carthage lights were powering slightly back on did I hear it.  
The sound of an electronic slurping. The sound of tentacles waving aimlessly. The sounds were not rapid, they were leisurely. It was approaching. It was coming. Slavery on no legs, with no face, had come for me.

Just as quickly as the slurp had come into hearing range did it fade, dying into echoes carried by the narrow Carthage hallways.

I hold my breath.  
_Something wasn't right. Something definitely wasn't right._

I keep my eyes centered on the hallway. No. There had to be a mistake. It saw me. It never lost my trail once it saw me. It had never happened before. Why, then, would it happen **now?**  
The guards, too, the miserable Creepers, had their full attention on the hallway. More gather at the mouth, the gaping mouth of the hallway. Waiting. It was just a matter of time.

The humming, the dial-tone-in-someone's-throat noise came back on. Carthage lights were dimming again.  
There was nothing. It had gone.

I'm worried. I press my back against the shallow depression in the walls. It didn't think. It didn't die. It had no comrades, relied on nobody to get to its target. Whatever It had its sights set on, It would seize and do what It wanted with whomever was the unlucky victim. It had no switch, no Instant Kill button. But that's what It did.

The guards burst into mechanical, relieved, insane laughter. One of them came down from the walls, nuzzling a few others. I can't speak Creeper, but obviously to them, the danger has passed.  
Not.

_But that's impossible. Something is not right...something..._

It was during the middle of my thoughts that suddenly the dial-tone cuts off again.  
It was during the middle of my thoughts that suddenly the terrible slurping noise returns. Something through the air. Air whooshing past.  
Something touches my shoulder. Something cold. Something cold and slippery and terrifyingly heavy.  
My soul is screaming at me. My mind is yelling obscenities. My heart is screeching in fear.

So slowly do I turn my head...  
And at that moment did the Carthage lights flicker again.

It looks me in the eye: if it had one, it was situated on a diamond that seemed to hold its large, bulbous, clear and yet tinted-blue head. Four curved, short claws hinged from its 'neck' that ran around the head completely. The head itself had some sort of strange organ inside-perhaps a strange sort of monster brain. It had numerous long, clear-blue tentacles that sprouted from its back, the majority of its body magenta and shaped like a cup around the bulbous head. It didn't need legs-it hovered.

For the life of me, I had forgotten what It was called.  
All I remember is that It spelled the end for me.

The guards by the gate turned as one, opening their mouths. I knew they were preparing to fire their weapons.

Still it comes.

Its tentacles began to wrap around me.

Still it comes.

My heart begins to beat so fast I'm sure it will explode.

Still it comes.

My vision already begins to dim.

_Still, it comes!_

It was at the eleventh hour when the blade falls that I find myself running for my life, running to the guards, running through the guards, through the mini ragtag band of monsters that called themselves a blockade. I nearly stumble, nearly meet my end as a Xana zombie, but I slam against the wall and hang there like a terrified cat.  
Something black was already on my shoulder.

The Creepers begin to open fire, shooting repeatedly, firing at the creature. The blasts were only being absorbed by It, which didn't seem to care. I leap through the ranks of the monsters, attempting to reach the next hallway. Somehow I only got burned in the arm with a laser once, which was miraculous seeing as the entire compound is suddenly turned into a warzone.  
I instantly turn back around, my eyes focused on It, which was currently just realizing that It didn't have me in its tentacles, and slowly, slowly, steps from the shadows. Lasers were still being absorbed into its body, and It turned from me toward the Creepers. Many of them freeze in place. The others abandon their positions and slither to the wall, up the wall, screaming in electronic voices at the others. Probably screaming 'MOVE! MOVE!'  
One of the frozen grounded Creepers slithers up toward It, before glowing a strange orange color and giving off an explosion. A bright flash of light momentarily blinds me, and a sick squishing sound echoes through Carthage. My vision clears quickly, and I stare at the scattered nerve parts on the ground. It wasn't even stopped by a point-blank suicide bomber attack.  
The only other surviving Creeper begins firing wildly at It, not stopping. The lasers were bouncing off the walls, and the Creepers on the wall were wailing, probably screeching for him to stop. It took care of that problem.

The Creeper continued to fire until it was grabbed by a tentacle and its head ripped off, left to bounce on the ground. The rest of the monster's body falls, spilling its viral contents. Somehow, I was sure It was satisfied with what It had just done.  
One of the Creepers cries out in anguish at seeing his comrade fall and leaps down from the wall, exploding on contact. The resulting aftershock nearly shook the poor Creepers off their protective walls. The eerie dial-tone hum begins, louder, as Carthage lights dim even more. I can hardly see anything save for the glowing floors.  
As the floor-lights begin to glow, I can easily make out the shape of It heading to the wall, its tentacles reaching up to the Creepers. That's all I want to see.

My heart slaps against my ribcage as I tear away, easily imagining the resulting virtual carnage and gore occurring behind me. Something momentarily lodges in my throat-I feel sick for the Creepers, I feel sorry for them through my terrified swirl of emotions. And at the same time I feel sorry for myself.

There's no hope for me now.  
They were gone. They were all gone...

* * *

I find myself in Heaven's Vault, where I had originally destroyed Lyoko under Xana's orders. The core is swirling endlessly, suspended by four feeds of data and carrying dual shields in case something wished to attack it. Originally the key opening the stairway was stuck, but I was able to energize it with my own powers. The only light comes by the Core of Lyoko, shining a pure white upon the room, a dim white. I edge closer to the Core, wanting to stay as far away as possible from the darkness. I don't care exactly where, I just want to get away from this hellhole. Maybe I'd find comfort suspended in the Eternal Void instead.

What had happened again?  
Oh, yeah.  
I was worried that the Lyoko warriors wouldn't think me brave enough to help them. I've never been too brave, so I decided I would act again. I did too good of a job acting and I was taken. I was taken by It. I don't remember what They called It, in fact I barely remember who They are. I guess They are the Lyoko warriors, whose names I have now forgotten.  
I remember when everything came back on.  
I remember when Xana decided he'd make It better. More aggressive. Able to handle itself. Indestructible. The research was continuing near our barracks, our being the Manta nests and my room.  
Then one day while everyone was powered down, an alarm went off, shocking us awake. I remember stumbling out of bed and suddenly Xana threw me out of my own room, also shooing the Mantas out of their nests. He quarantined the entire sector; I don't know how he managed to put a firewall around all means of escape, but Xana did.

The following power-on time, numerous casualties were reported. Nobody seemed to know what was going on. The few that did apparently were working at the time The Incident happened, when a radio signal alerted Xana to a new AI creation that was rebelling. The AI destroyed the lab and everyone in it before escaping its cage.  
It wasn't long before monsters were turning up, but missing heads or limbs, or tails, or wings, or were ripped in half. Some of the monster's heads had exploded, as if they couldn't handle what they had undertaken. All dead. None could tell us what they had witnessed. Even now, I don't understand what is happening, or what we can call It. But what I do know is that It has a taste for death.  
It's like the devil incarnate...

The light was fading from the corners, leaving the Core of Lyoko to give off its dim moon-like glow, washing the room in grey. I can hardly see anything but a few feet in all directions. The Heaven's Vault is barren, save for me and the Core. I stand only a few feet away from the Central Core Hole, peering down into the dark, dismal abyss below, where 'wind' howls endlessly. By now, the firewall, the guards, the Creepers, gone. Long gone. Just me and the Core, left to resound. I lift my face, closing my eyes. I wish I could cry in a false world like this. I stare at the Core.

I stare.  
_I'm sorry._

I could've sworn I heard an echo back, someone telling me I did alright, but then did I hear that terrible slurp. Something heavy was resting on my shoulder again. Just doing what it was programmed to do.

I lower my head and turn, defeated and nearly hysterical. Directly in front of me was It, tentacles and all. Said appendages were beginning to wind around me, bringing me to meet Its face. It was over now. It was all over now. If I wriggled out of its grasp, I would fall into the Void, and I'm afraid of just imagining what's down there.

I tilt my head as I stare at the monster's body. The Eye on the diamond. The head. Its tentacles were reluctantly placing themselves at my temples, one of them brushing my face. Maybe it was lonely. One of the tentacles stops and hovers, before whisking away a few strands of hair from my face.

I gently reach up, ignoring the protest of my muscles, and gently grasp one of the waving appendages. It was soft and squishy and cold. So cold.  
"It'll be okay, now," I whisper, half to It and half to myself. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to resist anymore. Okay? I promise."  
I could hear the slurp in its voice question me as the creature began to flood my mind with the deadly Xana virus that I had been fighting against for so long. A burning sensation fills my head.

I don't care. Because it doesn't hurt anymore.

"See? I'm not resisting you. Why'd you have to go and kill all those monsters, huh? They were my buddies." For some reason my body is jerking in random twinges. I can't understand why.

I close my eyes a little more, relax a little more. It didn't take long for the virus to flood the rest of my body. My arms are suddenly cold, and I can't feel them anymore. My legs are numb.  
By this point I'm getting so dizzy I can barely keep my head up and my eyes want to close. A feeler touches the side of my face and lifts my head up slightly. As if making sure I was still here. I reassure it.

"Don't worry, I'm still with you. I'm just getting tired. Just getting dizzy. I can't think right, is all."

Gently, the tentacle retracts. The Xana virus begins to circulate through my body, spreading itself throughout my system and redistributing itself into my brain. My brain...I can feel myself losing grip. The tentacle returns, raising my chin. I can feel the pressure against my temples, but everything else is dimming.

"Thank you."

Another electronic slurp as if It acknowledges me, and black covers my eyes.  
I can't see what is happening to me. But I figure I don't want to, anyway.  
But that's alright. I'm okay now.

Because it doesn't hurt anymore.


End file.
